The Royal Navy missed its recruitment target by 40% last year as it continues to find and retain talented sailors.
The Royal Navy missed its recruitment target by more than 1,500 people (Image: Getty)
The Royal Navy is running out of sailors, a senior officer has said, as the fleet prepares to adapt to the threats the country faces. Vice Admiral Andrew Burns, the Fleet Commander, warned that a lack of personnel was one of the greatest challenges the Navy faces, with the service missing its recruitment target last year by 40%.
In the year 2023-24, the Navy recruited just 2,450 people, more than 1,500 short of its target, according to data from the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The failure to meet its recruitment targets represents a continuation of failure, with the service failing to meet its target every year since 2011. Vice-Adml Burns said: “It’s people, right now. It’s the quantity of people. And it’s not just recruitment, it’s retention.”
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The Army and RAF are also in the midst of recruitment challenges (Image: Getty)
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) highlighted retention as a key area of focus, with investment into areas such as housing announced in a bid to fix one of the key issues underpinning service personnel terminating their service.
The firm has confirmed it will use serving and non-personnel to fill traditional and novel posts within the armed forces including roles in cyber and AI.
Recruitment is challenging for all three services and whilst the RAF and Army performed better than the Navy, they also missed recruitment targets by 30% and 37% respectively.
From 2027, Serco will lead a £1.5 billion contract to deliver recruitment for the MOD, the first time that a private company has overseen all three service’s attempts to lure in recruits.
But they do so against a challenging backdrop, with the armed forces failing to appeal to Gen-Z.
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Last month, the head of the Royal Navy was suspended following allegations of an affair (Image: Getty)
A survey last year found that a role in the military was considered the third worst career prospect, behind only jobs in McDonalds and KFC.
The Navy, like the other three services, has been hit by high-profile scandals in recent years, a factor contributing to its inability to attract talented youngsters and keep highly trained soldiers, sailors and aircrew.
Last month the head of the Royal Navy Admiral Sir Ben Key was suspended following allegations that he had had an affair with a female subordinate.
Vice-Adml Burns said: “Improving our culture is a really important part of that. We’re determined to make improvements to the environment that people serve in. I also think there’s a different set of skills required.
“A different blend in the workforce is required for the sort of systems and challenges we are going to face.
“That doesn’t mean, necessarily, that we want people in uniform, because we know there are people with the right skills out there that want to serve their nation, but we don’t necessarily have to have them marching up and down a parade ground.”
